


Michelle and Patrick

by blackflowercrowns



Series: Girlsies Week 2018 [3]
Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-24
Updated: 2018-04-24
Packaged: 2019-04-27 09:35:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14422590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackflowercrowns/pseuds/blackflowercrowns
Summary: So this one is a bit different than the others, but I kinda like it. Consider it my dip into the writing world's  version of post-modernism or something lol.





	Michelle and Patrick

**Author's Note:**

> So this one is a bit different than the others, but I kinda like it. Consider it my dip into the writing world's version of post-modernism or something lol.

Mike and Ike were not always Mike and Ike. Actually, Michelle and Patrick were their given names. Their mother got to name Michelle, and their dad named Patrick. The rhyming nicknames later in life were mere coincidence.

It all started when they were around three. Patrick Jr. (Ike) and Michelle (Mike) were playing with blocks when their father stormed out, their mother running after him. Patrick Sr. didn’t come back. Patrick was soon shortened to Ike.

When they were six, their older brother, Joshua, took them out to sell newspapers. He was around 10 at the time, and often set them down at the corner while he sold. He always kept an eye on them, though, making sure nobody stole them. 

When they were eight Joshua was crushed under a wagon, and the twins got lost in the city. They had never been anywhere by themselves and thus relied on Joshua to safely lead them home. Eyes blurred by tears the two wandered the streets.

“Hey! You two!” someone called. Ike turned and saw an older kid coming after them. Immediately he grabbed his sister’s hand and the two took off like a shot. They wove in between peoples’ legs, trying to evade this kid. 

“Hey!” he shouted. “I’m not gonna hurt you! Don’t run away!” Despite his words, the two kept running. Ike pulled them down an alley and they hid behind a garbage can. They clung to each other, eyes shut tight, scared that the boy would take them and hurt them like Joshua always said they would. 

The older boy ducked into the alley he’d seen the little kids run into. Sure enough, he found them huddled together behind a dumpster, eyes clenched shut. He frowned before gently reaching out a hand to them. “Hey, I won’t hurt you.”

Immediately their eyes flew open and they shot to their feet. But the older boy blocked the exit, and Michelle and Ike both knew this. They burst into panicked tears.

The older boy’s eyes widened. “No, no, don’t do that!” He took his cap off and ran his hand over his hair. “Oh God, where’s Jack when you need him,” he muttered. “Okay, lets start over! My name is Specs. What’re your names?”

Ike and Michelle looked at him. “Ike,” he said through sniffles.

“Michelle.”

Specs grinned at them. “Its nice ta meet ya, Ike ‘n Michelle. Now, are you lost?”

The twins nodded. 

“D’y’know where yer tryin’ to get?”

The shook their heads. 

“Well that ain’t good,” he muttered. “Alright, well I got an idea. How’s about we get you back to the Lodging House, where I live, and we’ll see if we can’t find someone who knows where you’se supposed to go, eh?”

The two rubbed their eyes, nodding. Specs’ plan was much better than theirs, which was to wander around the city until they found their mother. 

Specs lead them back through the city until they reached a tall building. The sign above it read “Newsboy’s Lodging House.” Specs walked right in, and the twins followed. They followed him up a flight of stairs until they reached a room of boys messing around a bunch of bunks. Specs grabbed a large wooden stick from a redheaded boy and proceeded to beat one of the metal bedframes. The room quieted and looked over at them.

“Anyone know these kids?” Specs asked.

The room remained silent. 

“We had a brother, Joshua,” Michelle spoke up. “Did any of you know him?”

“I did!” a kid at the back said. “Saw him this morning, selling in Queens after I warned him not to. Said he needed to-” he suddenly seemed to notice who he was talking to and changed what he was going to say “-get a better spot . . .”

Specs shot him a look. “Ben, a word please?”

Ben followed Specs outside, where they exchanged a few words. Specs walked in a moment later. “Well, welcome our two newest recruits! Ike and Michelle.”

~~

Three years later and Michelle was starting to regret being a newsie. Selling was hard, and she wasn’t able to pass as many papers as Ike did, despite them basically doing the same things. And men would say mean things to her on the street, and mothers wouldn’t buy from her because they said she wasn’t ‘ladylike.’ Didn’t they understand she was trying to make a living like the rest of them?

On March 13, 1897, Michelle had had enough. Some man made a comment about how ‘she’d be prettier if she smiled,’ and she swore up a storm that would make Racetrack Higgins blush. She had promptly spit on his shoe and marched back to the Lodging House. 

No one else was there, so she headed to the bathroom. She found a pair of scissors Buttons had in her embroidery basket and promptly headed to a mirror. She took a deep breath and grabbed a strand of hair. Placing the scissors a few inches from her scalp, she closed her eyes and snipped. 

She continued to do this, snipping away until her hair was no longer than Ike’s. Next, she rifled through her brother’s things, finding a shirt and trousers that were slightly too small for him. She put them on and stared at herself in the mirror. A tight wrap around her chest should take care of the blatant reminder there, and she’d be set.

She looked just like Ike. Just like a boy. A single tear rolled down her cheek. She hated being a boy. She wanted to be a girl, but there was almost no way for her to make a decent living. Until she was old enough to get a better job that accepted women, she would have to play pretend. Live as a stranger.

~~

Michelle (now called Mike) and Ike became even more inseparable after that. Mike felt miserable, and often clung to her brother. This was perceived as shy behavior, and most people left her alone. Her voice had been low for a girl anyways, and now it was the perfect pitch to hide as a boy. She felt dirty whenever someone called her ‘sir,’ or ‘mister,’ but there was nothing for it. 

“Mike!” Ike called. Mike snapped her head up. “Check out the headline!”

Mike looked up. _First Woman to Graduate College in Veterinary School._

“Fascinating, Ike,” she said drily. Ike grabbed her by the shoulders.

“No, you don’t understand! That means they’re taking girls seriously, Michelle!” Mike’s head snapped up. No one had called her that in years. 

“You don’t have to hide anymore, just ask Buttons! They’re making near as much as us now! You can go back to being Michelle!”

Michelle looked at her brother. “I can?” Her voice got caught on the last syllable. 

Ike beamed at his sister. “Absolutely.”


End file.
